Composite freight-car.



E. D. LEVY.

COMPOSITE FREIGHT GAR.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 24, 1913.

Patented Mar. 16, 1915.

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INVENTOR. EdwardflLegj/ ATTORNEYJ' THE NORRI PETERS CO. FHOTO-LITHQ. WASHINGTON. D. Cv

E. D. LEVY.

COMPOSITE FREIGHT UAR.

APPLICATION TILED JULY 24, 1913v Patented Mar. 16, 1915.

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IN VEN T016 Edwar D. Le?

A TTOR/VEVJ WITNESSES.-

THE Nmem PETERS 60 PHOTC-LITHO., WASHINGTON. D. c.

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EDWARD D. LEVY, OF SPRINGFIELD, MISSOURI.

COMPOSITE FREIGHT-CAR.

Application filed July 24, 1913.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD D. LEVY, a citizen of the United States, residing in Springfield, in the county of Greene and State of Missouri, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Composite Freight- Cars, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to railway freight cars, and more particularly to a combined or composite stock and box car, which 1s usable for the carriage of live stock on one run and then may be slightly changed and fitted so as to be water tight and in effect a box car; and need not make the return trip empty but can be loaded with ordinary merchandise or other freight inclosed in packages and which requires to be protected from water. A very material saving may be made by the use of such a car, the return of empties being an expensive matter in many obvious ways. The usual partly open stock cars have sometimes been loaded with ordinary merchandise, but such proceeding has involved costly claims for damages to the goods by water. It is a fair statement that by the use of my improved car, 2,000 such cars can do the work of 3,000 ordinary stock and box cars. This saves the interest, depreciation, maintenance, track room, car accounting, wear of track, haulage and crew, on 1,000 cars. For the transportation of live stock the car must be partly open above for the free admission of air, and at the floor for cleansing. For the carriage of goods damageable by water the car must be rain tight above and at the floor. Both of these conditions are attained by my improvements, which render the. necessary changes in the car easy and inexpensive to make.

WVith such objects in view the invention consists in the parts and combinations thereof hereinafter set forth and claimed.

In order to make the invention more clearly understood, there are shown in the accompanying drawings means for carrying the same into practical effect, without limiting the improvements, in their useful applications, to the particular constructions which, for the purpose of explanation, have been delineated.

In the said drawings: Figure 1 is a side view of a portion of the body of a railway freight car embodying the invention. Fig. 2 is a cross-section of the same, on line IL-II of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section of Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 16, 1915.

Serial No. 781,027.

the same at the door, on line HIHI of Fig. 1, the same being on a larger scale. Fig. 1 is a vertical section on a larger scale, on line IVTV of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a horizontal section across the end window, on line V-V of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings, 1 indicates the body of a freight car comprising center sills 2, cross sills or beams 3, side sills l, floor sills 5, side stakes 6, oblique braces 7, side plates 8, carlines 9, ridge pole 10, purlins 11, roof sheets 12 and running board 13. These parts, excepting the side sills hereinafter more particularly described, are or may be of any usual or preferred construction used in box cars. By preference the frame is wholly or mainly of steel.

14 indicates the end walls, of any suitable raintight construction. As shown they comprise horizontally arranged matched end planks 15 attached to end stakes 16. The side walls consist of upper raintight portions 17, of box car construction, and lower composite portions 18. The wall portions 17 do or may consist of narrow tongue-andgroove, or otherwise matched boards or side planks 19 as shown, but they may be constructed otherwise or of other material, for instance of sheet steel. The lower composite wall-portions 18 comprise slats or planks 20 arranged to leave air spaces 21 between them, and an inner rain tight wall or closure 22 which is attachable or removable to or from the outer partly open wall element. The slats 20 are of such distance apart as to form a sufficient pen or inclosure for live stock, and as to admit of free natural ventilation of the car and supply of air to live stock contained therein, provided that the closure 22 is removed. The composite wall portions 18 extend only to a height necessary for the said ventilation of the car, as it is desirable to have the car in its permanent structure assimilated as nearly as possible to a rain tight box car. I have illustrated the composite wall-portion as extending up for about two-thirds of the total height of the side wall, but the invention does not depend upon proportions which have been adopted in the drawings for the purposes of illustration.

23 indicates battens which overlie the closure 22 on the inner faces of the wall portions 18 and are removably attached to the latter by any suitable fastenings 24:, so as to hold the closure 22 in place. When the battens are applied on wood, nails, driven through the battens and closure 22 and into the wooden wall portions, may be employed for such fastenings. The remov-v 7 of the car after it has been used as a stock car, and also to enable it to be made raintight along the edges of the floor for box car purposes, the side sills 4 are cut out or shaped to form gutters 25 below the floor decking 26 and below the lowermost side slat 20 (Fig. 4). The floor planks do not extend under or to the side slats but are cut off to leave a space 27 leading to the gutter 25, and their ends are carried at normal height on the inner part 28 of the side sill; also, the lowermost slat 20 has or may have its bottom edge lower than the top of the floor planks to aid in excluding rain from the top of the floor, but is arranged to leave an exit space 29 from the gutter 25. It results from this construction that when the car has been cleansed, through the spaces 27, 25 and 29, the closure 22 may be applied so as to extend below the top of the floor, as best shown in Fig. 4, so as to effectually exclude rainwater from the top of the floor. I prefer to combine with the side sill 4 a metal sill member 30 which embraces the outer side of the part 4, and to apply in the gutter 25 a metal angle plate 31 which extends from a point under the floor to a point over and beyond the metal sill member 30.

The car is provided with one or more side doors 32, tightly fitted to the side walls and hung to slide in the usual manner. This door is of composite construction, that is to say, its end portions are formed of raintight planking 33 and its middle portion of slats 34. adapted to receive a rain-tight closure 35 of suitable material, such as building paper, secured by battens 36. The said middle part of the door is formed with a recess 37 in which the parts 35, 36 fit so as to be flush with the inner face of the end parts 33. Fig. 3 shows the side door on a larger scale, fitted with the closure 35, as for the rain-tight box car arrangement. If the said closure 35 were removed the door would be ventilated through the slats 34, for the stock car arrangement.

I prefer to provide the composite car with one or more end doors or Windows 38 for access to the interior of the carwhen it is being used as aistockcar and it is not possible or convenient to open the side door 32.

This end door is of relatively small size,

and the greater part of its surface is of a partly open or ventilated character, except-.

ing when the removable rain-tight closure is applied thereto. In the construction illustrated the door 38 is provided with stiles 39 between which are arranged verticalmetal bars 40. The inner side of the door frame is formed with a recess 41 into which may be fitted the building paper closure 42, which is there secured by battens 43, the latter being fastened by nails 44 or other suitable means. The inner faceof this door'is thus made flush with the exterior face of the end wall of the car. It will be understood that the side door 32 may be provided with a closure-receiving recess similar to the recess 41.

WVhat is claimed is 1. In a composite freight car, in combination: side walls comprising upper portions having a continuous rain-tight permanent covering, and lower portions having a fixed frame work and slats fixed thereon; a thin rain-tight closure of flexible material impervious to water, which is applied directly in contact with the vertical inner surfaces of the slats of the said lower slatted portions of the side walls and outwardly exposed only between the slats, and is attachable to and removable from the same to convert the car to a box-car form or to stockcar form; and attachable means for removs ably securing the said closure in place with pressure contact against the said slatted portion, said closure conforming with the flexures and movements of the said slatted portions under service conditions; substantially as specified.

2. In a composite freight car, in combination: side walls having openings therethrough and a floor arranged to leave a cleaning space between it and the side walls and terminating at a distance from and within the side walls, whereby a removable and flexible and thin rain-tight closure for the openings in the side walls may be extended down on the inner surface of the side walls to points below the top of the floor, substantially as set forth.

3. In a composite freight car, in combination': side walls having openings therethrough, and a floor arranged to leave cleaning spaces between it and the side walls and terminating at a distance from and within the side walls, and a removable rain-tight closure for the openings in the side walls extended down on the inner-surface of the side walls to points below the top of the floor, substantially as set forth.

4. In a composite freight car, in combination: side walls having openings therethrough, and a floor arranged to leave cleaning spaces between it and the side walls and terminating at a distance from and within the side walls, and a removable rain-tight closure for the openings in the side walls extended down on the inner surface of the side walls to points below the top of the floor, side sills extending under the edge of the floor and under the said cleaning spaces, and metal plates at the under side of the said cleaning spaces between the sills and the lower edges of the said rain-tight closure, substantially as set forth.

5. In a composite freight car, in combination: side walls the upper portions of which are continuous and permanently raintight, and the lower portions of which are partly open, a floor the outer edges of which are within and at a distance from the inner faces of the side walls and the top of which floor is above the lower edges of the side walls, a removable raintight closure within the car over the openings of the said lower portions of the side walls, and extending down outside of and below the fioor, and means for securing the said closure in place, substantially as set forth.

6. In a composite freight car, in combination: side walls portions of which are slatted; a floor arranged to leave a cleaning space between the same and the side walls; and a removable closure on the slatted portions of the side walls and having its lower part arranged between the side walls and the floor and below the top of the floor, substantially as set forth.

7. In a composite freight car, in combination: side walls which are slatted or partly open, a floor between which and the slats there is a space into which a closure is insertible, a thin removable rain-tight closure on the inner side of and over the openings of the side walls, consisting of paper impervious to water, which is extended down past the outer edge of the floor and between the said edge of the floor and the side walls, and attachable means for removably securing the said closure in place; sub- I stantially as specified.

8. In a composite freight car, in combination: side walls comprising upper portions having a continuous rain-tight permanent covering, and lower portions having a fixed frame work and slats fixed thereon; doors recessed on their inner sides and openslatted in said recessed portion; a thin raintight closure of paper impervious to water, which is applied directly in contact with the inner sides of said lower slatted portions of the side walls and with the inner faces of the slatted recessed portions of the doors, and is attachable to and removable from the same to convert the car to a box-car form or to stock-car form without interference'with the free movement of the slatted doors in relation to the slatted car-walls; and attachable means for removably securing the said closure in place with pressure contact against the said slatted portion; substantially as specified.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

' EDWARD D. LEVY. Witnesses:

G. M. SEBREE, JOSEPH B. TODD.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents Washington, D. 0. 

